With community pharmacies being called on to provide a wider range of services, drug stores across the country are adapting new technologies to ensure that they can meet the evolving needs of their patients and strengthen their role in the nation’s healthcare system.

LIU Pharmacy, part of the Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, announced that educator and researcher Dr. John Pezzuto has been named dean of the LIU Pharamacy, effective Jan. 1, 2015.

The theme for this year’s Cardinal Health RBC 2014 is “Leading Change.” For community pharmacists, that means playing a more active role in patient care. And Cardinal Health has a suite of services to help community pharmacists take the next step in making a difference in their patients’ lives — the Cardinal Health Adherence Suite.

Community pharmacists play a vital role in helping patients live healthier lives, as well as in improving the cost-effectiveness of health care. That’s a key message that community pharmacists will convey during the upcoming Health on the National Mall event.

After a five-year contraction in employer healthcare spending growth, medical inflation in the United States is projected to rise to 6.8% in 2015, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute.

"Should a Medicare senior’s “preferred” pharmacy be nine hours away by plane? Should a community pharmacy be reimbursed $300 below its cost of acquiring and dispensing a lifesaving drug? Should patients endure long trips for basic health services that a local community pharmacist is qualified to provide? Of course not," writes National Community Pharmacists Association CEO, B. Douglas Hoey in his latest guest blog entry.

The Cardinal Health Foundation and the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy have announced the introduction of the Medication Safety toolkit, the fifth in a series of interactive toolkits designed to help reduce the abuse of prescription drugs.

The healthcare industry has always had its fair share of buzz words and the pharmacy sector is no exception, said Emdeon's Kevin Mahoney. Medication synchronization, outcomes, clinical services, medication therapy management, accountable care organizations… our conferences and publications are full of experts discussing how pharmacies can successfully participate in these new opportunities. What I find to be so interesting in this new crop of go-to phrases is they all really boil down to one common element and that is patient care.

Does the Obama administration “get it” when it comes to pharmacy’s vital interests and lowering health care costs?

One sometimes wonders. As much as I like the president and many of his ideas and instincts, I’m sometimes stumped by some of the lesser-understood facets of the administration’s health policy, and by the seemingly contradictory sets of priorities promoted by that policy.

One major theme resonating across the show floor at HIMSS13 was the importance of interoperability within healthcare ecosystems. Emdeon's Lathe Bigler discusses how interoperability in the pharmacy space has been centered on advances in e-prescribing and clinical messaging.

Each year, we say goodbye to the current year and welcome in the New Year full of hope and aspirations for a successful year ahead. Customers turn out in droves for “New Year, New You” specials and when they reach the register, the retail pharmacy world knows the scenario quite well.

Warren Buffet once shared: “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.” Most people believe they operate with integrity and transparency, but the dirty little secret is that your customers may see you as biased or not as valuable as you think.

There is no doubt about it. Pharmacy audits can be time consuming and laborious for all parties involved. And as both government and commercial money gets tighter and tighter, all of health care is searching for the most effective means to manage the financial challenges associated with doing business.

The Emdeon team always looks forward to the NCPDP Annual Conference. The 2012 version is coming up in early May at the Arizona Biltmore. As expected, NCPDP has done an excellent job in scheduling a large number of important and interesting topics.

Regulators, healthcare providers and the public at large have taken note of the rise in prescription drug substance abuse. A recent article titled "Oxycodone Prescriptions Rose Sharply" in the New York Times (1/11/2012) describes trends of double-digit percentage increases in the dispensing of certain narcotic based painkillers. And many states have, or will be, implementing prescription drug monitoring programs — also known as prescription monitoring programs — that track the physicians prescribing and the patients receiving controlled substances.

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In this beauty report, Drug Store News takes a deeper dive into some of the leading trends that are reshaping beauty.more ...

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